SME online visibility when customers ask an AI
According to the SME Digital Index 2025, 38.78% of Romanian entrepreneurs have no website and 23.31% are not on social media. More and more B2B customers first ask an AI assistant for a list of suppliers. A company without a clear, consistent description of what it does does not make that list.
How many Romanian SMEs have a website and a social media presence?
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Do you have a website? | 61.22% | 38.78% |
| Are you present on social media? | 76.69% | 23.31% |
More companies are on social media than have a website. But social networks belong to the platform, not to the company. The website remains the place where a company says who it is, in full and in its own words.
How will a company’s online presence change?
Over the next 3–5 years, the stakeholders interviewed for the SME Digital Index 2025 mostly expect a wider range of social platforms and integration with chatbots and AI assistants. The website as the pillar of online presence scored higher than the idea that the classic website will matter less.
Source: SME Digital Index 2025, National Council of SMEs in Romania.
Why does brand clarity matter when an AI draws up the shortlist?
An AI assistant recommends what it can understand and verify. A company that describes itself differently on its website, on LinkedIn and in presentations is hard to recommend. One that says plainly what it does, for whom and with what results is easy to put on the list.
In the Brand–Culture–Performance model, this is market relevance: a clear value proposition, and a customer experience that confirms the promise. Visibility is not solved with more content, but with a positioning anyone can repeat accurately.
What can an SME do to be found?
- A website that says three things clearly: which problem you solve, for whom, and what proof you have.
- The same description everywhere: on the website, on LinkedIn, in directory profiles and in proposals.
- Answers to customers’ real questions: pages that respond directly to what they ask before they buy.
- Verifiable proof: case studies with numbers, clients, certifications, awards.
- Structured data on the website: information about the company, its services and its authors, in a format search engines read directly.
From my experience
In a positioning project for a medical clinic, we worked on moving from listing specialities to explaining a benefit that matters to the patient: access to consultations, tests and treatment in one coherent journey, with care for the person. A list of services says what you have; a clear positioning helps the person looking for you understand why they would choose you.
That direction also shaped the recommendations for the website: start from the problems people seek help with, and explain the next steps, including access and costs. Before choosing a fashionable format or a new campaign, we had something more important to clarify: what the patient can understand about us, and how relevant it is to them. Communication has more power when there is a clear reason to choose behind it.
Frequently asked questions
How many SMEs in Romania have a website?
According to the SME Digital Index 2025, 61.22% of entrepreneurs have a website and 38.78% do not.
How does a company appear in an AI assistant’s recommendations?
It helps to have a clear, consistent description of the company across several sources, and content that answers customers’ questions directly.
Does a B2B company still need a website if it is on LinkedIn?
Yes. Social networks belong to the platform. The website is the only place where the company fully controls what it says about itself.
Sources
- Florin Jianu, Dragoș Pufulete, Elena Dascălu, IMM Digital Index 2025: Carta Albă a IT-ului (SME Digital Index 2025: The IT White Paper), National Council of Small and Medium-Sized Private Enterprises in Romania, Pro Universitaria, 2025, chapter “Online presence”. Presented at the Transylvania Digital Innovation Summit, Cluj-Napoca, 8 October 2026. Average scores; the report does not state the sample size.